Radio frequency (“RF”) generators are used in many applications, including telecommunication, broadcast, and industrial processing. An RF generator can be a closed loop system comprising of an RF amplifier, a DC power source, and associated closed loop circuitry.
A block diagram of a typical RF amplifier is shown in FIG. 1. The RF amplifier can receive an RF signal at its RF input and a DC voltage at its DC input. Further, the RF amplifier can output an RF power at its RF output. The RF amplifier uses the RF signal to modulate the power received at the DC input to provide an RF power that is higher than the power at the RF input.
The efficiency of the RF amplifier is dependent upon several factors, including the value of the load connected to its output. As that load changes, so does the efficiency of the RF amplifier. The power dissipation of the RF amplifier (sometimes referred to herein as “PDISS”) is generally understood as the difference between the RF output power and the DC input power or, more specifically, the power at the RF output minus the power reflected back to the RF amplified and the power at the DC input.
This power loss (Pdissipated) is dissipated as heat among the different components of the RF amplifier. Any heat generated in the components has a direct impact on the reliability of the components. As a result, in many applications, the RF amplifier is provided with protection schemes to protect the RF amplifier under conditions such as high dissipation. In most cases, the protection schemes are designed to limit the RF output power and, as a result, limit the DC input power.
While the protection schemes built into RF generators allow the RF generator to protect itself, the protection schemes also limit the RF output power. Limited RF output power can be problematic for systems that utilize RF generators, such as systems providing semiconductor plasma processing. In such a system, an RF generator is supplying power to enable semiconductor processing. Plasma processing involves energizing a gas mixture by imparting energy to the gas molecules by introducing RF energy into the gas mixture. This gas mixture is typically contained in a vacuum chamber (the plasma chamber), and the RF energy is typically introduced into the plasma chamber through electrodes. If the RF output power is decreased by the generator's protection schemes, the power delivered to the plasma chamber is reduced, thereby reducing the process yield for the semiconductor processing system. Further, certain plasma conditions may regularly present load conditions to the RF generator such that the RF amplifier's protection schemes are regularly enabled, thereby affecting the ability of the semiconductor to be processed.
Thus, there is need for an RF generator and a method for controlling an RF generator that enables the RF generator to operate more efficiently and/or provide sufficient RF output power.